I was not quite sure what kite to fly; the Rokkaku or the Power Sled. The wind was perhaps a little too strong for both of them, but I finally decided on that one because the Power Sled is without spars.

Down on the ground, the wind was on and off due to a few trees creating a pretty efficient wind shadow. But up there the wind was definitely ON! So after a somewhat turbulent take off the Power Sled pulled like a flock of bulls when over that wind shadow. I had to let out some more line to get the kite higher and into smoother winds and that process of letting the line out was a tough one with that really hard pull of the kite.

But I managed to do it, anchored the kite to the ground and got all the KAV gear in place. I turned the gimbal on and within a second or so the camera was in position ready to record.

I let out some more line and the kite lifted the rig with ease. It even sometimes felt like it was going to lift me off of the ground too.

Well up there, the line was bouncing back and forth, but from down on the ground it looked like the gimbal was working. I could see the rig moving and the gimbal working to keep up with things.

I packed up the rest of the gear, put the rucksack on my back and the kite bag over my shoulder and started to walk the kite up the beach. I know from experience that walking the kite like this surely adds motion to the rig, so I was putting the gimbal to its test.

After a mere 30 minutes of walking, I anchored the kite again and started bringing down the KAP gear. Slowly but surely I got it all down before bringing the kite down too.

I took a quick look at some of the footage and it seemed the gimbal had done a good job. Later back at home, I watched it all on a larger screen and must say I’m impressed by what a combination between the GoPro Hyperlapse function and the gimbal can do to stabilize the footage. You can take a closer look at the video below.

Check out how the flying line is “dancing” around and how stable the shots are. It’s actually quite amazing, and I look forward to using the gimbal for KAV again in better conditions. I have a feeling that the footage will come out super smooth!